A snapshot into the life of a six-year-old girl living on the breadline is poised to become one of this year’s most memorable and enchanting films

A budget motel in Orlando that accommodates people who can’t afford permanent housing, sitting in the shadows of Disney’s Magic Kingdom theme park, is the unlikely location for one of 2017’s most vibrant and affecting films.

But The Florida Project weaves its charming magic. Set in the ironically titled Magic Castle motel, this candy-coloured film spends the summer with six-year-old Moonee – a precocious, defiant, whirlwind of a young girl. We watch Moonee as she and her carefree playmates, Jancey and Scooty, and her single mother, Halley, navigate day-to-day life.

It’s directed by Sean Baker, whose previous best-known work is 2015’s Tangerine about two transgender prostitutes, shot on an iPhone. And, as with that film, he paints, in vivid Technicolor, stories that aren’t typically shown on the big screen. He brings Moonee’s childhood alive even though her living situation might be grim, showing the joy in spitting competitions and sharing an ice cream bought with money scammed from tourists.

Get free tickets to see The Florida Project